Don't be fooled by Newsday's hidden agenda

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Under Suozzi, our deficit became almost insurmountable. So far, Mangano has cut almost $300 million in wasteful spending and slashed the debt he inherited from the Suozzi administration. He cut more than 1,700 patronage and other excessive jobs.

Over the past four years, our economy has remained weak, and the county, like many other municipalities, has faced significant fiscal challenges. Mangano has had the wherewithal to withstand pressure to increase spending. For the fourth straight year, he has released a no-property-tax-increase budget.

Don’t be fooled by your recent property tax bills. They reflect increases in school taxes, not county taxes. This year, school taxes have increased by an average of 6.8 percent, mostly due to the fact that we had reduced property tax revenues thanks to a broken tax assessment system — one that was implemented by Suozzi.

Over the past four years, Mangano has frozen assessments and implemented a settlement program that has saved the county $28 million annually and reduced taxpayer liability by 93 percent.

Two terms of Suozzi brought us nothing but out-of-control spending and taxes and insurmountable debt. However, he thought he was doing a pretty good job: He gave himself a $65,000 pay raise.

Mangano should be proud of his record. He has managed his accomplishments while battling the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority. The state-mandated board, controlled by Democrats, has done everything in its power to impede his efforts to get the county back on a fiscally sound track. For example, county contracts with outrageous pension packages, originally negotiated by Suozzi, can’t be reopened.

As a result of Mangano’s tough fiscal policies and tireless efforts to increase economic development, Nassau County residents have a lot to look forward to, including a new Coliseum, a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex.

Sid Tanenbaum, who lived in Woodmere and owned a metal-stamping shop in Far Rockaway, where he was known more for his charitable ways than his two-handed set shot, has been honored for the past 30 years with a basketball tournament that raises scholarship money for students in the Five Towns.